Flirt
by Blue Rose 01
Summary: In which Itachi learns how to flirt. Theme #30: Flirt of the 50 shinobi theme challenge. ItaSaku, Non-massacre AU.


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.

**Flirt**

Theme#30 of the 50 shinobi theme challenge

Enjoy (:

*.*.*

Uchiha Shisui walked back to Konoha absolutely grim. He had just completed a mission with none other than his little cousin who just happened to be the heir to the Uchiha Clan. He'd always known his cousin was naturally quiet and preferred silence, but that had never stopped him from talking to Itachi before. Today however, on the way back to Konoha, Itachi was being even more of a social outcast than usual and the silence was starting to really get to the older Uchiha.

He had no idea what had his young cousin and best friend so down, but he knew exactly what he needed to lighten up and he didn't waste any time telling his traveling companion.

"I know what you need, little cousin," he started, looking over at the Itachi to see if he'd gotten his attention. Seeing that he had, he continued, "You need yourself a woman."

Itachi's charcoal eyes narrowed at his flamboyant cousin. The answer always seemed to be a woman with him. If he were a lesser man, he would have rolled his eyes at Shisui, but as it was, rolling his eyes was beneath the clan heir.

Little did Shisui know that Itachi already had his eyes set on someone. He had grown an interest in Konoha's sweetheart, Haruno Sakura. He certainly wasn't the first one to fall for her looks and caring nature as he had seen many eyes wander in her direction whenever she passed by.

He had first taken note of the young kunoichi when he witnessed her pull a tree right out of the ground and proceed to swing it at her teammates as if it were some kind of baseball bat almost two years ago. He started observing her in between missions and training, even when he landed himself at the hospital, which was quite often. He had learned much from simply observing her in her environment and interacting with friends. She had a no nonsense attitude when it came to her work which seemed to get even the most stubborn of patients to cooperate, himself included, which he found quite impressive. They formed something of a friendship, although Itachi would never admit it aloud-he had no need for friendship. Her quirky attitude and abrupt mood changes always threw off the raven haired heir, something that was completely new to him. He had always been able to read people like an open book but that was not the case with this certain kunoichi. He continued to silently observe her until his curiosity was satisfied.

After becoming the field medic on Itachi's team, because Konoha's ANBU Team One would only take the best of the best and that was Haruno Sakura, his interest in her had grown from mere curiosity to something almost unhealthy. Instead of satisfying his curiosity like he had intended, spending time with the petal-haired beauty only served to confuse him more. She was such an intriguing bundle of contradictions that he was always trying to solve and little by little, the Uchiha heir found his thoughts drifting to her more and more often, until one day he decided to do something about it-he simply could not allow himself to be distracted by her any longer. What that 'something' was, however, eluded him.

"We're going out tonight!" A certain energetic male exclaimed, pulling Itachi from his thoughts.

"I am not interested," he replied simply, not taking his eyes off the familiar road to Konoha's gates.

"Dear baby cousin," Shisui draped an arm over his companion's shoulders, "I didn't ask if you were interested. I simply said we're going out tonight." Shisui had learned long ago that asking the young Uchiha heir to go out simply did not work. One had to take a more direct approach. Despite his easy going attitude, Shisui was still an Uchiha and had his own sneaky ways of getting what he wanted, even getting a grumpy Itachi out of the compound.

Itachi chose not to dignify the statement with a reply, simply shrugged his cousin's arm off his shoulders. When Shisui wanted something, he could be nearly unbearable in his persistence and Itachi knew he would not get anything done with an annoying cousin pestering him. So to avoid the unnecessary headache that was sure to result from his cousin's nagging, he often relented and did what his cousin asked of him. It usually did not cause him trouble so _usually_, there was no harm done.

*.*.*

"Alright baby cousin," Shisui mildly slurred, looking around the establishment he'd chosen to take Itachi to. "I think I've gotten enough sake into you to loosen you up," he said, disregarding the fact that he'd taken in a fair amount more than his friend.

He stood up abruptly and swayed a little before steadying himself and winking to Itachi who was still seated and pushing the bottle of sake away from himself.

"Watch and learn," he said with a wink before walking to a nearby table with a lone woman seated there.

Itachi observed his cousin, amusement clear in his eyes, fully expecting him to be turned down immediately. Shisui introduced himself and commented on the girl's outfit; the younger Uchiha couldn't help but help but think that his cousin was being rather superficial, choosing something like an article of clothing to compliment. But Itachi simply sat in silence, waiting for the moment the girl threw her drink it his face as he had seen Hana do to Genma many times before.

"Whew! Is it hot in here, or is it just you?" Shisui wiped some non-existent sweat of his brow saying for effect as he winked at the girl and to Itachi's immediate surprise, she actually giggled and batted her eyelashes prettily at his cousin. He blinked once, raising an eyebrow.

What had the world come to? Surely girls were not this...easy, for lack of a better word. Itachi turned away from his cousin and surveyed his surroundings, still mildly surprised-a feat in itself, for Uchiha Itachi is _rarely _surprised. At that exact moment, Sakura happened to walk into the establishment and Itachi's eyes were immediately drawn to her. She looked as if she'd had a rough day, at the hospital he's sure, since their team had no missions or training today. Despite looking a little tired, he couldn't help but find Sakura to be extremely attractive, and once again, it seemed that he wasn't the only one to notice. Many eyes had turned to the petal-haired medic as she walked in and sat down at the end of the bar without so much as a glance at her surroundings.

Itachi certainly didn't like the lewd glances she was attracting. He was sure it was the unhealthy amount of alcohol his cousin had forced on him that led him to approach her-that and the thought that if he went over to sit with her, the men staring at her would understand that they were not allowed to have her.

"Sakura," Itachi said simply, pulling her eyes from her sake. She looked up at him and smiled warmly upon recognition.

"Itachi! Please, have a seat," she greeted kindly, motioning to the stool beside her. He nodded and sat down beside her, but said nothing else. She wasn't bothered at all by his silence; by now she was used to it and no longer felt awkward to sit wordlessly with him. She simply enjoyed his company as she waved to the bartender for a bottle of sake for her and her companion to share.

Itachi's eyes slid to the young medic beside him. She didn't seem to mind him imposing his presence on her, if anything, she seemed to welcome it. Perhaps now was the time to do that 'something' he had decided on earlier. Shisui's special brand of charm seemed to work well for him, so Itachi inwardly shrugged and thought, 'Why not.' Again, he blamed his thoughts on the alcohol in his system.

"You shirt," Itachi started, catching the attention of the kunoichi at his side. She looked suddenly alarmed and looked down at her shirt, worried that she had spilled something on it. "It is nice," he finished easily, earning himself a wide eyed stare from the object of his latest thoughts.

"My shirt...is nice," she repeated slowly, looking from her captain and sort-of-friend to her shirt, and then back. "Uh-huh..."

"That is what I said," he returned easily.

Sakura continued to stare at him incredulously, but said nothing else. She was too busy trying to figure out if she was put under some sort of genjustu to think up an appropriate reply. She supposed Itachi had become something of a friend and she liked to think that he considered her as a friend too, if his change in behaviour was any indication. When he used to simply nod his greeting to her, now he actually said hello to her; they held surprisingly interesting conversations-not that Itachi was uninteresting, just that she didn't expect him to talk enough to hold a conversation at all. Despite his warming up to her, he was always socially awkward, so she tried not to condemn him for his odd statements. He probably didn't know that his statement was usually used to flirt with women. Exactly.

Satisfied with her justification, she turned back to her sake and resolved to forget Itachi had said anything at all.

"Is it hot in here, or is it just you?" Itachi made sure to leave out the ridiculous eyebrow wiggling he had seen Shisui doing with the other girl.

Sakura gaped at Itachi for a total of five seconds before raising a deceivingly delicate hand to her lips to hold in the fit of giggles that threatened to as she might, she couldn't help the laughter that escaped from behind her hand and eventually, she was unable to even try to hold it in and she broke out in unrestrained laughter. Itachi realized she was laughing at his expense, but found himself mesmerized with her emerald eyes which were positively sparkling with mirth. Instead he simply stared and waited for her laughter to subside

"Did Shisui put you up to this?" she asked in between giggles, thinking it was all an insane joke.

Itachi merely raised an eyebrow, his masculine pride slightly wounded, though the alcohol somewhat cushioned the the blow.

"He said the same thing to me a few months back," she said, pausing to look around for said Uchiha, expecting him to leap out from some corner yelling 'Gotcha!' "It didn't work for me then, and it certainly doesn't work now."

Sakura took a sip of her sake and looked back to him. "Thanks, Itachi. I think I really needed that. I was having a rough day, but that really helped."

Still Itachi said nothing and simply watched his female teammate intensely, trying to figure out why she was different from the woman Shisui seemed to have no problem charming that other woman and he had seen many women on his arm before. Sakura was certainly more beautiful than the other women, probably smarter too, and given that she was on the top ANBU team in Konoha, it was probably safe to say that she was stronger than that other woman too.

Then he realized that of course she's different. There were so many things about Sakura that made her so different from the women who swooned over him and proclaimed to love him. She would _never_ be caught swooning, of all things, she respected herself too much to stoop to that level, and he admired that about her. He knew that she didn't need any man to take care of her, but that didn't stop him from being the one who could.

Itachi knew would have to find his own way to impress this woman. Shisui's charm may work for regular women, shinobi or civilian, but Sakura wasn't so shallow that such things would work for her.

The young Uchiha heir was always up for a challenge, however, and he always believed that the harder the challenge, the greater the reward.

And so he watched his companion carefully, already formulating a plan in his mind. When Uchiha Itachi set his mind to something, he _always _got it. Poor Sakura had no idea what was coming.

*.*.*

**A/N:** I think this calls for a sequel, no?

I realize Itachi was suuuper OOC, but I like to think that he isn't perfect in all things and that there are a few things that he doesn't get right away. Plus, it made for a funny plot ;P I hope I haven't offended any Itachi fans for that!

I know it's been a while since I've written anything, but I'll definitely get on it! The next chapter of Beyond Words is in the making, so look out for that one!

I hope you enjoyed reading this, and please leave a review. It certainly inspires me to read your reviews!

Ja ne!


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